New Effort to End Force-Feeding at Guantanamo

Associated Press|1 Jul 2013

MIAMI - Prisoners at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay are asking a federal court to halt the practice of force-feeding hunger strikers to keep them alive.

A motion filed in Washington on behalf of four men held at the base in Cuba says the practice violates medical ethics and is inhumane. They say it will also deprive prisoners of the ability to observe the traditional fast for the upcoming Muslim holy period of Ramadan.

Syrian prisoner Jihad Dhiab says he is well aware that he could die if he is not force-fed.

The U.S. says 106 prisoners are on hunger strike as of Monday in a protest over their indefinite confinement. The Miami-based U.S. Southern Command says the military remains committed to feeding prisoners to prevent protest deaths.